Guest column: Tariff war? Now’s the time to buy local, buy Canadian

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By: John DeMont

I have never been a careful, discerning shopper.

Other than the percentage of recommended daily sodium intake in a product, I usually take no notice of what is in there.

Since my idea of shopping for a shirt is pretty much walking into a store and buying the first thing that meets the definition of “shirt-ness” — sleeves, an opening from which the head can emerge, maybe but not necessarily buttons — the only thing I ever notice on a clothing label is the size, rather than what it is made from and where it is produced.

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That is changing. You can probably guess why.

President Donald J. Trump, if we are to take him at his word, has dropped the façade that his plan to impose onerous tariffs on our crude oil, cars, softwood lumber and lobster has anything to do with our allegedly porous border. Instead, it is all part of his master plan to use “economic force” to make Canada the 51st state.

Trump routinely says some wild stuff. This, we must remember, is a man who believes he has been singled out by God to make America great again, who eschews the American constitution and international law.

So, we have no choice but to treat his words as a long-term threat to our country’s very existence, even if the tariff talk is our immediate concern.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised that Canada will respond with our own “robust” “dollar-for-dollar” tariffs on U.S. products, which, as anyone who has ever been in a schoolyard knows, is the only way to react to a bully.

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In a time of crisis, which is what this is, we ordinary Canadians must also do our part because every little bit helps, and doing something is better than just doing nothing.

So, even though tariffs and the accompanying rise in prices on imported goods will surely impact the behaviour of Canadian consumers, it is heartening to see the movement afoot to buy Canadian.

By that I mean buying your coffee from one of our fine locally owned roasters or cafes, your veggies grown by the nice couple up the hill, your takeout grub from the newcomer to this land who pledges allegiance to the Maple Leaf.

To buy local ensures that, as the suddenly popular website Made in CA puts it, consumers can “rest easy knowing their dollars were having the maximum impact on the Canadian economy.”

Now is the time to wrap ourselves in the flag: if you drink pop — not soda — make it, for sentimental reasons, Canada Dry (a brand founded in Canada in 1904, now owned by U.S. firm Keurig Dr Pepper). Imbibers of stronger stuff, double down on domestic wines, spirits, craft beers and ciders.

Before heading for the checkout, see where that meat, cheese or pasta comes from and whether there is a Canadian-made or -grown alternative.

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Sweeten your food with syrup tapped from Canadian maple trees; at snack time, reach for a bag of Covered Bridge storm chips or the distinctively Canadian ketchup-flavoured kind made by Old Dutch’s Winnipeg plant.

I have written before about Hawkins Cheezies, manufactured in a small plant in a small town in Ontario, in my humble opinion the best cheese snack to be had at any corner store.

Just last week I sang the sweet praises of Mr. Big, Caramilk and our other national candy bars, which take a backseat to nothing that rolls off a U.S. conveyor belt, while you have read lots about the products being turned out by Antigonish’s Peace by Chocolate and our other manufacturers. If you haven’t tried them before, now is the time.

Same goes for our Canadian clothing lines that carry the familiar Roots, Joe Fresh and Hudson’s Bay logos.

And even our big-box stores where, for example, the timing would be right to gather up all those Sandy McTire dollars and troop down to Canadian Tire to buy a can of motor oil, a hockey stick, a pair of winter mitts.

If you buy a book make it one written by a Canadian author, perhaps from an independent store where local writers get top billing.

Our great musicians and singers need no introduction but now might be a time to show them some special love, as it is with galleries that carry the work of our visual artists.

The point is this: The tariffs the American president is talking about may well have a profound impact on our companies.

And tariff wars, history has taught us, can go on. It is always good to buy local. But perhaps seldom more so than now, when our companies could use our help, because what is good for them is surely good for us all.

John DeMont is a senior writer and columnist for Halifax’s Chronicle Herald newspaper.

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